Page 29 of Be Your Forever
“Right, that makes sense, thanks.” Our meals eventually come, and we spend the rest of our time catching up and giving each other a hard time. Xander ends up settling the bill, and I say my goodbyes before heading out to Acesfor my shift.
The bar is busy when I walk in. There are not one, but two bachelorette parties…great. They are always a pain in the ass to deal with, but they tip well, so I just grin and bear it.
Gage is at one end of the bar flirting with who I assume is a bridesmaid from one of the parties since she’s wearing a pink sash. He’s a walking sex ad, but chooses not to use it to his advantage. To be honest, I don’t recall the man ever really dating much. That didn’t stop him from flirting with Bri when she and Avery came into the bar that one time. Granted, he was only doing it to get on my nerves. And something tells me Bri was doing it just to get on mine. I made him clean and mop the bathrooms as a punishment when we closed.
“Hey,” a woman purrs.
I glance in her direction and notice she’s practically leaning over the bar top. Her perky tits are hanging out, and I swear she’s intentionally pushing them together. She has strawberry blonde hair with tan skin and hazel eyes. From what I can see, she appears thin, and her lips are full and plump. But she’s not her. She’s not Bri.
“What can I get ya?” I ask, purposefully leaning back and crossing my arms.
“Are you on the menu?” she asks. It takes everything in me not to gag on the spot. Desperation reeks from her side of the bar, and I’m not interested in participating.
“No. What can I get you?” I repeat, a little firmer this time, hoping she’ll take the hint.
“Playing hard to get, hmmm? I like it. I’ll take a drunken cherry martini. With extra cherries.” She attempts to reach across the counter to put her hand on mine, but I’m quicker than her.
I prepare the drink for her, ignoring her blatant attempts of catcalling me. She’s clearly already tipsy, so I hurry up and make the drink as quickly as I can. The faster she leaves, the better.
“That’ll be fifteen. Do you have a tab open?” I hand her the drink and ignore her checking me out.
“I have cash.” She rummages through her purse and pulls out a twenty. “Keep the change, handsome.” I offer her a stiff smile before moving on to one of our regular patrons. Out of the corner of my eye, I see her frown, but I don’t really give a shit.
Gage and I are working both ends of the bar, shouting out drink orders or asking for a specific bottle of liquor. We find our rhythm pretty quickly, and I’m grateful that I have Gage as my bar partner. He has zero tolerance for nonsense, and he knows what he’s doing.
I’m in the middle of cleaning a few glasses when I feel a prickle of awareness at the back of my neck. I know without looking who has walked into the bar. But my eyes scour the bar anyway, looking for her. The moment our eyes lock, my jaw drops and my dick throbs behind my jeans.
Bri is a goddamn smoke show in black leather pants that hug her curves and a bright red bralette with her tits all but spilling over the top. She’s in a pair of black heels and her hair is down in her natural waves. My mouth feels like I inhaled sawdust. My heart beats erratically in my chest and my hands are itching to touch her. Fuck, she’s hot.
The look on her face tells me she doesn’t believe it. Her brows are furrowed with worry, and she’s nibbling on her lower lip. Bri’s eyes ping pong around the bar until they land on mine. The second she sees me, the tension in her shoulders deflates before offering me the most blinding smile. Fuck, this woman will be the death of me.
She makes her way over to me, hips sway with each step. If I listen closely, I can hear the shattering sound of men’s hearts breaking. Whatbaffles me the most is she doesn’t seem to notice all the men eye-fucking her as she walks past them.
Mine. Back off fuckers, this woman belongs to me.
Bri eventually stops in front of me and takes a seat.
I keep my eyes trained on her face, even though I want to scan her body and memorize every inch of her.
“Well, hello. What can I get ya?” I wink at her.
I hear the other girl from earlier scoff and attempt to whisper, “Seriously? Her?”
I feel Bri flinch, her shoulders hunching as she attempts to make herself small. I turn to the woman and glare at her before opening my mouth.
“Yup. If you have a problem with her, you can leave. Petty jealousy ain’t cute.”
My lip curls in disgust as I stare at the slack-jawed, insecure woman next to Bri. Something tells me she’s used to men fawning all over her. Not me, though.
My eyes have been locked and loaded on the bombshell before me. My heart has been hers since I was seventeen, long before I truly knew what all-consuming love meant.
The girl blinks at me before running off to her party and complaining about how big of a dick the bartender is. I honestly don’t give a fuck.
“Hey, Bri. Damn, you look hot. Let me know if you ever get tired of this tool, and I’ll take real good care of you.” Gage winks at her before shooting me a grin.
“You’re fired, Gage!” I shout at him. I don’t mean it. I even threatened to fire him when he flirted with Bri all those years ago. It’s something we do.
“You wish, Ace. You need my ass.” Gage turns to serve more customers while I bring my attention back to Bri.
